How is the pot split in this texas holdem hand?

Question

Player 1 has pair of jacks and goes all in...$2000. player 2 has pair of kings and goes all in...$500. player 3 has pair of queens and goes all in...$2000. So what does each player win?

Answer 1

You imply that none of the players improve on the board, so we'll work with that assumption, and I will also assume that no additional money from other players is in the pot.

Player 1 has J♠J♣ and $2000

Player 2 has K♠K♣ and $500

Player 3 has Q♠Q♣ and $2000

Everyone goes all-in before the flop. Because player 2 has less than the other players, a main pot will be formed that has $500 from each player. So, this main pot will contain $1500. This is the only portion of the pot that player 2 is eligible to win, because he can win no more than he risks from each of the other players.

A side pot is then created between players 1 and 3. $500 has already been removed from each to satisfy the main pot, so there's a side pot which contains $1500 from each player here, so $3000 total.

To summarize here:

• The main pot contains $1500. All players can win this.
• The side pot contains $3000. Players 1 and 3 can win this.

At the end of the hand, the two players involved in the side pot reveal their hands. Queens beat jacks, so player 3 wins the side pot and player 1 is eliminated from further consideration. Then the main pot is decided between the remaining two players. The kings beat the queens, so player 2 wins the main pot.

Net result:

• Player 1 loses his $2000.
• Player 2 wins a pot of $1500 for a net gain of $1000.
• Player 3 wins a pot of $3000 for a net gain of $1000.